2021 Conference Program - Including abstracts for all presentations - SpelmanLane
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2021 Conference Program
Including abstracts for all presentations
Presented ByFriday, February 19, 2021
10:00 – ASYNCHRONOUS PRESENTATIONS AVAILABLE
Get a head start on the day by viewing a few tutorials or symposia.
All presentations will be available on the conference website for 1 year.
12:00 – 1:00 SAY HELLO! LUNCH SOCIAL HOUR
Drop in and introduce yourself, see old friends, and build community.
We will create a moment to honor those we’ve lost in the last year.
1:00 – 2:00 OPENING REMARKS AND KEYNOTE ADDRESS 1
Main Room Using Dr. Inez Beverly Prosser’s Legacy as a Roadmap to Train Diverse
Psychologists
Rihana Mason, Georgia State University
2:00 – 2:45 CONCURRENT SESSION 1
Breakout 1 From the Box Office to the Classroom: Using Films to Explore
Psychological Concepts
Alexander Swan, Eureka College
Breakout 2 Peer Wellness Advising: Bolstering Coping Skills During COVID-19 and
Beyond
Jeffrey Sargent, Heather Quagliana, & Jennifer Thomas, Lee University
3:00 – 3:45 CONCURRENT SESSION II
Breakout 1 Multimodal Active Learning Methods for Biological Psychology
KatieAnn Skogsburg, Centre College, Ellen Carpenter, Virginia
Commonwealth University, Christina Ragan, Georgia Institute of Technology,
& Beth Ann Rice, Slippery Rock University
Breakout 2 Managing Expectations and Practical Application during Pandemic Times
Erica Russell, Domonique Sumler, & Erica Baldwin, Norfolk State University
4:00 – 4:45 CONCURRENT SESSION III
Breakout 1 A Storyteller’s Approach to Teaching
Bridgette Hard, Duke University
Breakout 2 Relax, Relate, Release! Supporting Teacher and Student Wellness through
Mindfulness Training
Natalie Watson Singleton, Spelman College
15:00 – 6:00 SOCIAL HOUR: SHOW-AND-TELL-AND-CHAT
Main Room Come to chat and share something about yourself that others may not know:
What gets you through pandemic days? Share your hobby or indulgence!
Who lives with you? Introduce us!
What brings beauty to your life? Show us!
Saturday, February 20, 2021
10:00 – 10:45 CONCURRENT SESSION IV
Breakout 1 Spoonful of Sugar, Helps the Learning Go Down
Tara Matthews, Purdue Global University
Breakout 2 The Pandemic and Increasing the Relevance of Psychology
Lynn DeLivio, Mayville State University
11:00 – 11:45 CONCURRENT SESSION V
Breakout 1 Course Flexibility and the Paradox of Choice
Ellen Carpenter, Virginia Commonwealth University
Breakout 2 Beyond Hiring - Developing, Mentoring, and Retaining Online Psychology
Faculty
Julee Poole & Kimberly Jurowski, Purdue Global University
11:45 – 1:00 5 – 20 MINUTE TEACHING DEMOS, & LUNCH SOCIAL HOUR
Demos:
Karen Schmidt, Cynthia Tong, & M. Joseph Meyer, University of Virginia
Alison Melley, George Mason University
Blythe Duell, Washington State University
1:00 – 1:45 POSTER SESSION
Look through the online posters as you get a chance. Authors will be
available to talk during this session.
Be sure to vote for Best Poster!
2:00 – 3:00 KEYNOTE ADDRESS 2 & CLOSING REMARKS
Main Room Cultivating a Tasty APL (Academic and Personal Life): Being an
Academic During Covid et al.
Regan A.R. Gurung, Oregon State University
2POSTER LIST
Metacognitive Skill Training in the Era of the Pandemic: Supporting Students of Color
in an Introductory Psychology Course
Kayoung Kim, Tennessee State University
Student Performance in Introductory Psychology Course: A Comparative Study of
Face-to-Face, Online, and Hybrid Modalities
Ginny Zhan & Douglas Moodie, Kennesaw State University
Instructor Awareness of Students Use of GroupMe in College Classrooms
Jennifer Willard, Adrienne Williamson, & Naomi Katz, Kennesaw State University
Understanding Equivocal Results: Why Do Exam Wrappers Sometimes Fail?
Jessica Chambers & Lindsay Masland, Appalachian State University
“That’s Not Why I’m Here:” Understanding The Real Reasons Why Students Take
Introductory Psychology
Tyler Swedan & Kenneth Carter, Oxford College of Emory University
Including Students with Psychosis in the Psychology Major
Pam Gibson & Rose Parker, James Madison University
The Great Listen: A StoryCorps-Inspired Project to Enhance Students’ Understanding
of Autobiographical Memory Phenomena
Shana Southard-Dobbs, Lander University
Examining an Intervention to Promote Mastery Goal Orientation in Psychology
Students: A Replication Study
Ordene Edwards, Herman Ray, & Marion Granger, Kennesaw State University
Scraping the Online Learning Management System for Engagement Data
Chris Goode, Georgia State University
Promoting Coverage of Under-Represented and Under-Discussed Contributors to the
History of Psychology
David Washburn, Georgia State University
Reflections from Multicultural Instructors: Connecting with Students in a
Disconnected Semester
Stephanie Baumann, Mindy Reed, & Ciara Glover, Georgia State University
3SYNCHRONOUS PRESENTATION ABSTRACTS
Friday, February 19
Keynote Address I Friday, 1:00 – 1:45| Main Room
Using Dr. Inez Beverly Prosser’s Legacy as a Roadmap to Train Diverse Psychologists
Rihana Mason, Georgia State University
Dr. Inez Beverly Prosser is described as the first female African American psychologist as a
result of earning her doctoral degree in 1933. Prosser’s biography was recognized as notable
(Benjamin et al., 2005) and is highlighted as part of the APA’s “I am Psyched” exhibit. Her
legacy became the impetus for Psi Chi’s first named scholarship for women of color. Although
progress has been made towards diversifying the field of psychology since Prosser’s era it is
critically important to examine whether our current disciplinary practices are building a
culturally relevant, sensitive, and sustaining learning environment. This talk will review APA’s
revised guidelines for the undergraduate psychology major through the lens of Prosser’s: 1)
dissertation research, 2) interdisciplinary teaching focus at schools within the South, and 3)
approaches to fostering the right to obtain a degree. The goal of this discussion is to increase
awareness of the ways in which a pioneering psychologist provided a roadmap for training a 21st
century workforce. Points raised throughout the discussion will also emphasize pedagogical
practices that reproduce privilege.
Concurrent Session I-A Friday, 2:00 – 2:45| Nerd Room
From the Box Office to the Classroom: Using Films to Explore Psychological Concepts
Alexander Swan, Eureka College
The use of film in psychology courses is a solid pedagogical strategy (e.g., Bluestone, 2000;
Mishra, 2018). It offers students a chance to view psychological concepts through an artistic
lens, including how filmmakers understand psychology and choose to portray these concepts. Of
course, through this fictional interpretation, students can apply their knowledge to determine the
accuracy of portrayals. Interestingly, this is but one option for using movies to bridge
conventional material. In this talk, I plan to discuss two parallel endeavors into this pedagogy.
First, I want to share with you my podcast, CinemaPsych Podcast, and the journey of getting
together like-minded folks to discuss films and film pedagogy. I ask all my guests how they use
film in their classes, and I will share excerpts from the show. Additionally, I surveyed several of
our Teaching of Psychology colleagues last year for their pedagogical practices with respect to
film and have data to share from this research project, including suggestions and comments for
instructors of psychology to bring to their own pedagogy.
4Concurrent Session I-B Friday, 2:00 – 2:45 |Geek Room
Peer Wellness Advising: Bolstering Coping Skills During COVID-19 and Beyond
Jeffrey Sargent, Heather Quagliana, & Jennifer Thomas, Lee University
The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted college students’ learning (for example see
Hoover, 2020), which has exacerbated their academic and social stressors. During this
extraordinary time, undergraduate students’ academic coping skills need bolstering to ensure
academic success. Effective learning in the classroom (in person or remote) is achieved by
students who can regulate themselves by employing appropriate coping resources. In our
presentation, we outline an Academic Wellness Advising Program that has been developed in
response to increasing stress among our undergraduate students. This peer advising program is a
brief counseling approach to academic support using solution-focus (De Shazer et al., 2007)
activities to promote positive coping. Additionally, our program includes training and teaching
advanced students to offer one time zoom advising sessions to undergraduates who need extra
emotional and academic support. We have recently piloted the program and will discuss both the
strengths and areas of improvement, as well as offer ways in which other psychology
departments can replicate peer wellness advising in their respective institutions.
Concurrent Session II-A Friday, 3:00 – 3:45 |Nerd Room
Multimodal Active Learning Methods for Biological Psychology
KatieAnn Skogsburg, Centre College, Ellen Carpenter, Virginia Commonwealth University,
Christina Ragan, Georgia Institute of Technology, & Beth Ann Rice, Slippery Rock University
Historically, students struggle with biological psychology content (Hudson & Whisenhunt, 2018)
and many educators have implemented active learning methods to increase student
understanding of difficult topics (Hamer, 2000). However, the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020 has
raised challenges of moving these activities to an online environment. This symposium will
discuss learning activities, appropriate for undergraduate courses, that cover a broad range of
topics such as neurons, action potential, neuroanatomy, brain functions, sensation and perception
and psychophysics. A panel of faculty who have previously taught these topics online will
present several ways to effectively teach these sometimes difficult topics that would benefit
student learning in both the traditional classroom and the online modality. While we all
anticipate the instruction to be once again be in the classroom, having alternatives to the
traditional classroom can increase accessibility and options for engagement in complex and often
difficult content. Lastly, we will open the floor for contributions from the audience, for things
that worked best for them and things that they may want to troubleshoot for future courses.
5Concurrent Session II-B Friday, 3:00 – 3:45 |Geek Room
Managing Expectations and Practical Application during Pandemic Times
Erica Russell, Domonique Sumler, & Erica Baldwin, Norfolk State University
Nearly a year ago, life as we knew it, changed. Facing an invisible and unknown enemy, many
of us found ourselves shifting gears to serve in our professional roles within a context with no
existing point of reference. We were introduced to new lingo and technologies while being met
with new expectations—having little time to pause and reflect on the new realities of life. As a
psychologist and a professor of the discipline, I have recognized the need to intentionally focus
my thinking and to engage others in dialogue which carefully considers the expectations of the
current time within its novel context. If we aspire to be good stewards of ourselves and models
for our students, some intentional and reflective practice may help us to do the work of teaching
psychology and developing students. This session will invite attendees to join the presenters in a
critical conversation which reflects on self-expectations and expectations of others, approaches
to identifying and maintaining reasonable expectations, and opportunities to infuse practical
application into the teaching of psychology during pandemic (or other crisis) times. Together we
will ‘acknowledge the moment’, identify inherent challenges, and highlight opportunities for
relevant practical learning within the teaching and learning experience. An associate professor
of psychology will facilitate a dialogue and undergraduate psychology majors will give voice to
the student perspective.
Concurrent Session III-A Friday, 4:00 – 4:45| Nerd Room
A Storyteller’s Approach to Teaching
Bridgette Hard, Duke University
Modern teachers are encouraged to think of lecturing as antiquated and ineffectual, but lectures
can be a timeless pedagogical tool that need not be passive, boring, or ineffective. By invoking
principles of effective storytelling, lectures can invite students on a journey through the concepts
that requires them to engage, empathize, analyze, and reason critically. I will share concrete
ways that you can use stories as an organizing framework for your lessons. I will also share some
of my favorite storytelling examples, as well as performance strategies for making your
classroom stories more vivid and compelling.
Concurrent Session III-B Friday, 4:00 – 4:45 | Geek Room
Relax, Relate, Release! Supporting Teacher and Student Wellness through Mindfulness
Training
Natalie Watson Singleton, Spelman College
The Covid-19 pandemic has negatively impacted people’s mental health in large part due to the
increased stress associated with the unpredictability, isolation, and newfound challenges in
carrying out expected roles and responsibilities. Stress is recognized as a leading predictor of
poor health, and both professors and students have experienced distinct stressors due to the
Covid-19 pandemic and its subsequent public health measures. Despite these stressors, findings
indicate that teachers and students alike feel they have received inadequate support for mental
6health from their schools. Thus, providing professors and students with evidence-based, self-help
methods is one viable option to respond to the urgent need for mental health support in these
populations. One empirically supported self-help strategy to manage stress is mindfulness.
Mindfulness includes various meditative practices and principles that help people regulate stress
by nonjudgmentally and compassionately paying attention to thoughts, feelings, and physical
sensations that arise in the present moment. Mindfulness has been linked to numerous health
outcomes, such as lowered levels of depression, decreased anxiety, and improved sleep
quality. This presentation will highlight the timely need to teach professors and students
mindfulness strategies to manage their stress in the midst of the persistent Covid-19 pandemic. It
will (a) provide a brief description of mindfulness, (b) review the status of the literature on
mindfulness and health, and (c) teach three mindfulness strategies that can be used by professors
and students inside and outside the classroom to reduce stress and improve mental health.
Saturday, February 20
Concurrent Session IV-A Saturday, 10:00 – 10:45 | Nerd Room
Spoonful of Sugar, Helps the Learning Go Down
Tara Matthews, Purdue Global University
This synchronous symposium presentation focuses on the importance of fun in the learning
process. Using examples from classroom experience, the presenter will provide examples of
effective and enjoyable learning activities that stimulate student engagement, self-efficacy, and
overall learning. Practical classroom examples include the use of scavenger hunts, virtual field
trips, and catchy titles for communications with students. Moreover, the use of media to
demonstrate psychological principles in case analyses is covered in detail. Integrated within the
presentation, the classic film Mary Poppins is utilized for thematic content, demonstrating the
application of enjoyable aspects of media use in a classroom setting. Examples involving the
analysis of the classic character George Banks for examining unresolved grief, depression,
alcohol use disorder, and personality theory are provided in a fun and engaging manner. Finally,
the utilization of exit tickets in a classroom setting for continuous student feedback and
engagement is explored in the context of the learning process.
Concurrent Session IV-B Saturday, 10:00 – 10:45 | Geek Room
The Pandemic and Increasing the Relevance of Psychology
Lynn DeLivio, Mayville State University
The pandemic challenged students’ ideas and expectations of learning in a college classroom.
The purpose of this study was to integrate the pandemic into an introductory psychology
classroom (1) to increase the relevance of psychology in the real world and (2) to inform the
instructor of students’ reactions and viewpoints during the unpredictable pattern of remote and
on-campus classes and Zoom classes to improve student learning and beliefs regarding the risks
of COVID. Thirty-four students enrolled in an introductory psychology class in a small, rural
7midwestern university completed six assignments and participated in discussions related to the
assignments. The assignments are below:
1. Personality Traits and Reactions to Quarantine
2. Are students in quarantine stigmatized?
3. Testing Positive for COVID-19 and the Fundamental Attribution Error
4. Perceived Stress Score (PSS) and Self-Care
5. Do You Learn Better On-Campus or Remotely?
6. Perception of COVID-19 Risk and Behavior
Results include that the majority of students believe that situational factors account for positive
COVID cases; the majority of students want to be on-campus and not on Zoom; and students
believe testing positive for COVID is not a major concern for the reason that the majority who
did test positive did not experience symptoms worse than the flu. In conclusion, these
assignments helped students to understand the relevance of psychology in an engaging manner,
but more education is needed to inform the students of the risks of COVID in the context of
realistic scenarios that reflect the pressures of college students’ lives.
Concurrent Session V-A Saturday, 11:00 – 11:45 | Nerd Room
Course Flexibility and the Paradox of Choice
Ellen Carpenter, Virginia Commonwealth University
Teaching online during a heightened social justice movement, a contentious national election,
and a raging pandemic. Campus leadership reminding us to engage in compassion, empathy,
self-care for ourselves and others. All valid reasons to support a great amount of flexibility in
your course design in an effort to reduce stress for both students and instructors. But can too
much flexibility actually increase stress for some students? In this symposium I will share data
regarding my gamified Fall 2020 Learning and Cognition course. This was a large enrollment
asynchronous online upper level course featuring an incredible array of options for students and
only a handful of hard deadlines. This flexible designed enabled many students to not only
survive but thrive, but inadvertently created a stress-inducing paradox of choice for others.
Therefore, how do we meet the needs of as many students as possible? I will also share how
student feedback has informed the delivery of this course for Spring 2021.
Concurrent Session V-B Saturday, 11:00 – 11:45 | Geek Room
Beyond Hiring - Developing, Mentoring, and Retaining Online Psychology Faculty
Julee Poole & Kimberly Jurowski, Purdue Global University
Psychology faculty members play a critical role in building and sustaining a quality online
Psychology program. Beyond the initial hiring of online psychology faculty, program leadership
must focus on developing online faculty through peer mentoring, the availability of teaching
resources, and ongoing leadership support. Faculty development consists of a comprehensive
8approach to include professional teaching development, motivation, and support. Peer-reviewed
research findings considering developing, mentoring, and retaining online faculty will be
reviewed in the presentation. The Purdue University Global Graduate Psychology program has
developed a comprehensive faculty development program that has resulted in online faculty who
deliver quality instruction, collaborate with and support each other, and experience minimal
burnout or turnover. Investing time, energies, and resources during the first two terms, a faculty
member teaches has been discovered to be essential. We will examine the Purdue Global
Graduate Psychology comprehensive faculty development program and the various processes
and resources during the presentation. A discussion will address how the research supports a
comprehensive faculty development program. We will share data to demonstrate the
effectiveness of a formal faculty development process for new online psychology faculty
members. Ensuring that faculty have continued leadership support and teaching resources
throughout their tenure has also been critical and discussed.
5-20 minute Interactive Teaching Demos Saturday, 11:45 – 1:00 | Main Room
Using R Shiny Apps to Illustrate Statistical Concepts within Psychology Courses
Karen Schmidt, Cynthia Tong, & M. Joseph Meyer, University of Virginia
Making statistics and research methods course content more accessible and experiences more
empowering to all students is an increasing interest in higher education. Shiny Apps
(https://shiny.rstudio.com) are becoming increasingly used within teaching and learning contexts,
with ever-growing exposure and support available through a variety of online networks, and
groups (e.g., R Studio Community, shinyapps-users Google group, Stack Overflow, etc.). Given
the growing importance of their applicability to learning environments, conferences on
developing Shiny Apps have also occurred (e.g., Post & McGowan, 2017).
Interestingly, most or all of these Shiny App conferences and support efforts occur within
Statistics and Data Science programs and fields, and not within Psychology programs. Given
that quantitative science courses within Psychology programs are typically not the basis for
students selecting the Psychology major, enhancing the teaching and learning experience to
increase successful performance outcomes and future retention and appeal within learners is
tantamount. We will demonstrate a series of two to three Shiny apps our team has developed to
teach and support relevant concepts within psychology research methods and statistics courses,
both at the graduate and undergraduate level, and invite SETOP attendees to interact with one of
the Shiny apps. We have employed these Shiny Apps over two semesters, both in-person and
online, and student support for their effectiveness has been very encouraging. We aim to
increase our R Shiny App development within our courses, and hope that our demonstrations
here will be found useful, resulting in more Psychology statistics instructors using these
methods.
9Pedagogy and Technology for Inclusivity, Engagement, and Community Building
Alison Melley, George Mason University
Participants will become immersed in the virtual classroom and experience teaching strategies
that engage both reluctant and motivated learners. Enjoy ice breakers that don’t hurt and
community building exercises that won’t drive you away, all without turning on your camera.
Participants will experience the student perspective as they learn how these strategies can
improve access, inclusivity, and engagement. Once the ice is broken, participants will experience
how these strategies can also be used to facilitate critical thinking, retrieval practice, and
discussion. Techniques can be adapted for any course or platform, though may be especially
useful in large synchronous online courses. Templates will be shared with participants, with
suggestions on how to adapt and use them to improve efficiency and workflow in class
preparation. The presentation is designed for beginners through experts in online teaching. The
development of these techniques for the teaching of psychology was inspired by Wills, T. (2021)
who has tested them in over 20 online courses. They were successfully used with both
undergraduate and graduate psychology classes in the Fall of 2020.
Breakout Escape Rooms: Active Learning on Zoom
Blythe Duell, Washington State University
In this synchronous on-line active learning activity, students were placed into breakout rooms in
Zoom and given a list of 15-20 True/False statements about the topic of the day. Students had to
work together to solve the items. When they thought they had the correct answers, a teaching
assistant checked their answers. If they did not have all the answers right, they were told how
many answers were wrong. This required them to return to the list and inspect which answers
might have come from less reliable sources, or which items their teammates felt less confident
about. When they had all the answers correct, they had “escaped” and they were done with
classwork for the day. The top few teams earned extra points. Students found this activity
engaging and enjoyable. They learned about the topic for the day, but they also learned about
judging sources. Finally, they were given the opportunity to interact with their fellow students
“with a purpose”. Finally, based on levels of processing research, it is believed that the activity
created a deeper level of learning than a standard lecture or reading. This activity could be
altered to fit nearly any topic. The game was a real escape from the day-to-day drudgery of
teaching on Zoom.
10Keynote Address II Saturday, 2:00 – 3:00 | Main Room
Cultivating a Tasty APL (Academic and Personal Life): Being an Academic During Covid et
al.
Regan A.R. Gurung, Oregon State University
Working in higher education and finding time for research, teaching, and service has its own
challenges. Add a pandemic and you have a true recipe for disaster. Fortunately, a large body of
psychological science can be applied to optimizing our mental and physical health. I shall share
how social and health psychology in particular can contribute to allowing a manageable
academic and personal life. Culling together a set of evidence-informed life hacks and pragmatic
solutions, this session should provide you with food for thought and restoration.
11ASYNCHRONOUS PRESENTATION ABSTRACTS
Symposia
Mentoring Colleagues in Teaching
Judith Bryant, University of South Florida
I organize my symposium into three parts: mentoring specific colleagues, mentoring colleagues
more informally and generally, and finding opportunities (and getting credit) for mentoring. I
base my comments on 40 years of teaching and mentoring. Part 1: USF requires all graduate
student and visiting instructors to be supervised the first time they teach and to take a seminar on
instructional methods. New assistant professors often participate. My presentation covers (1)
work we do prior to the semester, (2) weekly sessions to solve problems and discuss practices
that instructors can implement for different modes of course delivery, (3) teaching observations
and reports reinforcing effective behaviors and suggestions, and (4) communication about
available human and online resources. I emphasize (5) the importance of conveying a positive
attitude about teaching undergraduates and of celebrating teaching successes. Acknowledging
that teaching may not be the only responsibility for graduate students and new faculty, we
discuss (6) balancing teaching with research, forming reasonable expectations, and submitting to
teaching journals and conferences. Part 2: Next in the symposium, I suggest ways to keep all our
colleagues abreast of institutional policies, share articles on pedagogical practice, and connect
them to listservs and organizations that focus on teaching. Finally, shifting to mentors
themselves in Part 3, I talk about strategies for getting “credit” for mentoring and working it into
one’s teaching and service assignments. I present ideas for short-term mentoring at teaching
conferences and longer-term opportunities through professional organizations.
AP Psychology: The Good, The Bad, The Useful
Rachel Chapman, Freedom High School, Orange County (FL) Public School System
Advanced Placement (AP) Psychology as a high school course has been a popular choice with
students. However, there have been many questions regarding whether courses like AP
Psychology truly prepare students for the rigor and demands of a collegiate education in
psychology. There are many beneficial elements to students engaging in an AP Psychology class.
However, there are also some not insignificant concerns about the coverage of content and skills
developed by students who receive a score that supplants a course at their college or university.
These benefits and concerns will be addressed by an educator who has been teaching AP
Psychology for over 15 years in a large urban district. The focus will then shift to specific
approaches that have been used in her classroom that have supported student learning of
psychological concepts, as well as skills that are expected in higher level education. These
methods have been strategically used to mitigate the existing apprehensions those at these
institutions have about students who have taken AP Psychology.
12A Toolbox to Enhance Student Resilience and Success
Alisa Beyer, Chandler-Gilbert Community College
APA has an initiative for retooling the Introduction to Psychology course. Nationally we see a
need for student resiliency skill-building. This research project examines the impact of resilience
modules added to an introductory course. In fall 2020, community college students enrolled in
PSY 101 and ENG 102 were enrolled in either a course with a resiliency toolbox or in a control
condition. Four PSY 101 and 2 ENG 102 sections participated in the study. All students had the
opportunity to complete pre- and post-assessments connected to resilience, perceived stress,
resilient coping, academic self-efficacy, flourishing, general anxiety, and general well-being. For
those students enrolled in the intervention sections, students participated in 3 intervention
modules designed from previous research. The first intervention was Strengths-based training
adapted from the work of Peterson & Seligman (2004) and Dilbeck, Reed, Welle, & Ernst
(2018). Several weeks later, students participated in part 2 that included a mental toolbox. The
first assignment taught students about recognizing and being aware of emotions or stress along
with some techniques to reset. The next module gave students guidance and an opportunity to
try mindful acceptance and mindful reappraisal (combined/edit sentences). All materials were
presented in an asynchronous online modality. My goals for the session are to briefly share the
lesson plans, preliminary findings, and future directions.
The Academic Experience in the Time of Covid: Replenishing Resources for Students and
Instructors
Amanda Grieme Bradley, Trevecca Nazarene University
The college academic experience in America has radically shifted due to the impact of the
Covid-19 pandemic. Starting in March 2020, students and instructors alike have had to manage
new demands in light of course work going online, social distancing and mask requirements, and
the unique emotional toll of living during a pandemic. News headlines and social media pages
reveal the pervasive anxiety provoked by living in America today. How then, can both
instructors and students find and implement resources to replenish themselves during this time of
distress? This twenty-minute asynchronous symposium will provide attendees with specific
practices and resources to implement daily or weekly in order to manage stress related to coping
with the limitations imposed by the pandemic. Both the brief theory behind the practices and the
specific ways to implement the resources will be addressed during the presentation. The
presenter will demonstrate the practices to deepen the participant’s experience of the resource in
order to strengthen the participant’s ability to implement the practice after the symposium.
Student Research in an Undergraduate Methods Course: A Three-Track Design
Tess Gemberling, Lander University
Students need different types of experiences when preparing for their future careers. Although
not applicable to all students, when applying to graduate school, experience with research is
often a necessity, but it can be difficult to locate. Therefore, I have designed a Research Methods
13undergraduate course that provides three different intensities of student research. Each track
consists of writing a brief report, yet ungraded additions are made for those wanting additional
research experience. At the beginning of the semester, each student chooses the track that suits
them best with the help of a flowchart; example flowchart to be provided. The optional poster
track is designed for students who are interested in attending a graduate school that emphasizes
applied skills over research (e.g., Master of Social Work). The advanced manuscript track is for
students who are interested in attending graduate schools that require considerable research
experience (e.g., Doctorate in Cognitive Psychology). Students in this track complete an
independent research project under the mentorship of the professor. However, to ensure the
professor is not overwhelmed, certain milestones need to be met to remain in a particular track.
No matter the track, each student is graded with the same rubric to ensure consistency; example
rubric to be provided. By implementing this design, the course is tailored to each student,
allowing students to pursue more extensive research without creating an unmanageable workload
for the professor. Mistakes, and subsequent fixes, will be discussed.
Instructing Multicultural Psychology Courses in the era of Quarantine
Ciara Glover, Stephanie Baumann, & Mindy Reed, Georgia State University
A central objective in many introductory courses in Multicultural Psychology is to increase
cross-cultural dialogue and promote critical consciousness (Patterson et al., 2018). Instructors
use teaching approaches that range from self-reflective writing to small group discussions to
achieve this objective. While online formats have been found to be effective in student growth
and learning in multicultural psychology courses (Alvarez & Domenech Rodriguez, 2020), the
shift to quarantine-mandated online learning placed a strain on the discussion format that has
been so effective for in-person learning. The purpose of this symposium is to introduce effective
online teaching adaptations for sensitive dialogues in Multicultural Psychology courses. Three
presenters will discuss a. the role of social identity dynamics (self-reflection of instructor,
dynamics between instructors and students, students to students), b. the effectiveness and
logistics of delivering small group synchronous discussions, and c. the strategies for keeping
students “connected” on a web platform. The presentation will also include resources,
technology suggestions, and examples of strategies to engage students in discussions in a variety
of online formats.
Using Transactional Analysis to Increase Personal Responsibility in Students During a
Humanistic Psychology Course
Patrick Whitehead & Michal West, Albany State University
Authors will present a forthcoming evaluation of a instructional technique used during a lower
level psychology elective at a State University (n=35). The technique is “functional analysis,”
which is taken from the therapeutic method called Transactional Analysis (TA). TA has been
fruitfully applied in the classroom (Newton, 2016; Tudor, 2009; Williams, 2012) and has been
used to decrease teacher burnout (Johnson, 2015). Of particular interest for this evaluation, TA
has been shown to increase inner locus of control in postsecondary students (Mei, 2010). Design:
14Students will be asked to write a short description of their short- and long-term goals for college.
This will be followed by a three-week TA tutorial using a curriculum developed by the authors.
After the tutorial, students will perform a functional analysis on their original short- and long-
term goals. The functional analysis will ask students to identify aspects of Child (e.g. “I do what
I’m told”, Adult (e.g. “I do what makes sense to me”), and Parent (“It’s the right thing to do”) in
their written descriptions. Then students will be asked to again record their short- and long-term
goals. First and third week descriptions will be compared using Discourse Analysis. Authors will
develop a coding technique to identify levels of personal responsibility in student descriptions.
For example, low responsibility (“My mom is on my case about getting a degree”) and high
responsibility (“I’m interested in becoming a better listener”). Students will also be asked to
reflect on any changes in perspective they recognize.
Developing a First Year Seminar for Rural Appalachian College Students
Katherine Cook, Erin Hardin, & Kody Sexton, University of Tennessee – Knoxville
According to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES; 2018), the retention rate is
around 61% for first-time, full-time students at 4-year public universities in the United States.
Many universities have created first-year seminar (FYS) courses for students in their first
semester that allow them to become more acquainted with campus life. Research has
demonstrated that these courses improve retention rates and help students build relationships
with fellow classmates (Everett, 2017; Young, 2020). In this presentation, we will discuss two
alternative courses, which focus on building these skills among first-time rural Appalachian
college students, an understudied population with unique transition and instructional needs.
The first course is taken in the students’ first year on campus. Its primary focus is to promote
student success by helping students build social capital and identify campus resources. A
secondary component of the course focuses on social justice with an emphasis on gaining insight
about their own identities as students from the Appalachian region. This portion of the course
allows students to obtain a better understanding about their communities and increase their
critical consciousness. The next course is taken in the students’ second year on campus. This
course helps students identify research opportunities on campus and develop their understanding
about STEMM. The hope is that students can cultivate their identities as researchers and bring
those skills back into their rural communities. In combination, these two courses will be
discussed within the presentation to help others develop similar courses to assist students from
rural populations.
The Person, the Situation, and the System: Encouraging Students to Consider Systemic
Influences Throughout Their Psychology Courses
Brooke Bennett-Day, Wesleyan College
The past few years have brought with them an increased focus on the role of the system in
explaining societal outcomes. This has made its way into the public discourse, with discussion of
systemic racism appearing in mainstream media. As a field, psychology has historically been
focused on the study of the individual, or moving beyond that, examining the interaction between
15the person and their situation. With repeated practice, our students can become quite skilled at
looking at outcomes from those two perspectives. However, while psychologists generally accept
systemic influences, deliberate practice in thinking about systems may not be as frequent, and
may also be limited to a few specific topics or courses. Without a purposeful attempt to include
thinking about systems, students may have a difficult time understanding exactly what it means
for something to be systemic. In their paper on the importance of a cross-cultural psychological
perspective in thinking about racism, Salter, Adams, and Perez (2017) speak of the importance in
considering the “structure of everyday worlds.” Drawing on that concept, I’ll share a number of
examples across multiple courses (social psychology, forensic psychology, research methods,
and history of psychology) that present opportunities to introduce and further develop students’
understanding of systemic influence.
Virtual and Augmented Reality Experiences in Undergraduate Psychology Education
Allison Howard, Marguerite Madden, Simin Savani, Connor Dooley, Jake Tassoni, Patrick
Nercessian, James Ethan Couey, Lillian Le, Sergio Bernardes, & Isha Naidu, University of
Georgia
Virtual and augmented reality experiences offer students the opportunity to visualize novel
concepts, structures, and realities, bringing multiple domains of undergraduate psychology
curriculum to life in three dimensions. We present the development and application of novel
augmented and virtual reality technologies as open educational resources for teaching and
learning core concepts in courses such as sensation and perception, physiological psychology,
abnormal psychology, environmental psychology, and introductory psychology. Using Unity
gaming engine, students developed immersive virtual experiences for comparative perception,
color deficiency, exposure therapy, and embodied cognition. Using Spark AR Studio, a
powerful, user-friendly software for augmented reality development, our team has developed and
made publicly available filters on comparative perception, color deficient vision, hearing loss,
brain anatomy, and sustainability. Additionally, our work has cross-disciplinary applications in
the fields of visual arts, mapping, and data visualization. Given the challenges presented by
remote learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic, our team recently pivoted to focus on the
development of augmented reality experiences for social media applications, available to
students in both remote and face-to-face teaching formats. Accompanying these virtual and
augment reality experiences, we present our ongoing efforts to develop an instrument to evaluate
levels of student engagement, motivation, learning, and self-efficacy associated with the use of
these technologies in the classroom.
Utilizing PechaKucha and Three-Minute-Thesis Styles for Online Presentations
Jennifer Morrow, University of Tennessee – Knoxville
As instructors many of us have sat through (and have probably given) long, drawn-out
presentations. In an online teaching environment these long-winded presentations seem to be
especially tedious. In an attempt to try to have more engaging presentations in my online classes
I’ve utilized two different presentation methods for these assignments: PechaKucha and Three-
Minute-Thesis (3MT). This presentation will discuss the strengths of these styles of presenting,
16how I implemented these within my online graduate-level courses, student feedback on these
activities, and suggestions to instructors for how to utilize these types of presentation styles in
their courses. PechaKucha and 3MT are two fast-paced, engaging presentation styles that can be
easily incorporated into both synchronous and asynchronous online courses as well as face-to-
face courses. PechaKucha is a presentation format that utilizes mostly visuals within a six minute
forty second presentation which typically contains twenty slides that are displayed for twenty
seconds each (Bang-Jenson, 2010; Freeman, 2016; Morrow, Shipley, & Kelly, 2018). Three-
Minute-Thesis style presentations originated in 2008 as a research presentation competition that
is now held worldwide at over 600 universities (https://threeminutethesis.uq.edu.au/about).
Speakers have just three minutes and one static PowerPoint slide to tell their story. In this
presentation I will discuss how I utilized these presentation styles in my online courses and offer
suggestions to instructors on how they can incorporate these presentation activities in their own
courses.
“We Carry It All With Us”: Teaching Psychology While Grieving
Nancy Johnson, Queens University of Charlotte
While education and psychological literatures contain many sources on how to help grieving
students, there are many fewer sources on ways to cope when instructors themselves teach after
loss. Returning to the classroom while grieving can be a source of comfort or escape at times;
however, grieving people may be surprised by both what grief itself feels like and by how we
respond to topics covered in psychology courses, even if we have taught for many years. In the
era of COVID-19, even more instructors may face struggles of managing courses and teaching
loads alongside their pain and loss. This presentation will describe how grief affects us
cognitively and physically, and how our prior expectations about the timeline of grief may not
match our experience. We will examine how loss may change our sensitivity to teaching some
psychological topics and our sensitivity to student needs, including some initial pilot data about
challenges for instructors. Given the epidemic of recent losses, the additional COVID-19 era
stressors of “unfinished mourning” (Farahmandnia et al., 2020) and compassion fatigue will also
be explored. Recommendations for coping, support networks, and future research will also be
included.
Relations of the Broad Autism Phenotype to School Belongingness Among College Students
Damion Whittington & Lisa Turner, University of South Alabama
Autism spectrum disorder is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by difficulties in social
communication and restricted interests (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). These
characteristics are thought to vary along a continuum in the typically developing population and
are reflected in the broad autism phenotype (BAP; Landry & Chouinard, 2016). The BAP
includes characteristics that align with autism spectrum disorder, such as rigidity, difficulty with
communication, and aloofness (Hurley et al., 2007). We proposed a model where the BAP was
related to sense of university belongingness, which was related to college students’ GPA. The
final sample (which excludes first-semester students; N = 229) completed the Broad Autism
Phenotype Questionnaire (subscales of Aloofness, Rigidity, and Pragmatic Language
Difficulties; Hurley et al., 2007), the Psychological Sense of School Membership Scale
17(Goodenow, 1993) and reported their cumulative GPA at the university. Using PROCESS
(Hayes, 2018), the overall model was significant. The indirect effect of the BAP on GPA through
belongingness was significant, and the direct effect of the BAP on GPA was also significant. In
order for these students to succeed, universities may need to increase the types of social
opportunities that may better match the strengths of students with the broad autism phenotype.
These students may benefit in the classroom from being paired with similar students.
Additionally, classroom group work may need to be structured so that these students are not
overly taxed by the social demands of the work. University environments need to be prepared to
support students with diverse characteristics.
Anxiety and Life Meaning in a Pandemic
William F. Evans and Student Research Assistants, James Madison University
Undergraduate students were surveyed online regarding anxiety, death anxiety and life meaning
at a mid-size university in the mid-Atlantic region in January of 2020 and again in April of
2020. 161 students responded to the initial survey, which occurred while classes were still
offered in person. After the university transitioned to all online classes, a follow-up online
survey was administered to the same students in April with 63 responses. We anticipated
changes would occur in variable levels during the COVID-19 pandemic which affected the
students beyond simply moving classes from in person to online. A follow-up study was
completed during the Fall Semester of 2020, with 286 new subjects responding. Changes in
anxiety, death anxiety and life meaning were explored in this follow-up study. The results of
these research studies will be shared, with a discussion of potential implications for the teaching
of psychology, student health services, and student life programming.
Updates and Resources from the APA Committee on Associate and Baccalaureate Education
(CABE)
Jaclyn Ronquillo-Adachi, Cerritos College, Karen Brakke, Spelman College, Diane Finley,
Prince Georges College, & Todd Joseph, Hillsborough Community College
The Committee on Associate and Baccalaureate Education (CABE) is a committee of the
American Psychological Association’s (APA’s) Education Directorate. We are tasked with
representing students at 2- and 4-year undergraduate institutions, promoting the highest
professional standards for the teaching of psychology as a scientific discipline, and promoting
high standards of teaching in psychology for undergraduates. The committee is also tasked with
the development of various tools to assist educators, and their students, within the field of
psychology. During this session, members of CABE will give updates from the committee about
the projects being developed and implemented. Online teaching resources for each of the
initiatives will be highlighted.
18Tutorials
Online Psychology Laboratory: Teaching During the Pandemic and Beyond
Shawn Gallagher, Millersville University & Barney Beins, Ithaca College
The collateral effects of the coronavirus pandemic have restructured education and compelled
instructors to quickly adopt new teaching skills and strategies. Online resources, regarded by
many as peripheral conveniences, are now essential as more learning has become remote and
asynchronous. The Online Psychology Lab (OPL) is one such resource, ready to support
instructors in difficult times. OPL has been available for over a decade, but it has been revised so
users can access almost all features on smart phones, laptops, and desktop computers. This
presentation will present an overview of OPL including data-collection exercises and
presentation of static content-oriented concepts. We will also illustrate the reliability of some
popular OPL experiments by comparing data collected in a traditional classroom (pre-pandemic)
to data collected remotely and asynchronously during the Fall 2020 semester. We will also
demonstrate ways to analyze and present results.
Intrinsically Motivating Students with Skill Development
Reed Priest, Middle Tennessee State University
Education serves many purposes, such as exploring concepts for their own sake, helping secure a desired
occupation, and developing worthwhile skills. It is difficult to engage students, however, when they are
not intrinsically motivated to explore a given course’s topics (Christenson et al., 2012). To help prevent
this issue, educators could highlight the skills developed during the learning process and explain how
those skills are personally, professionally, and intellectually worthwhile. For example, writing a research
paper is valuable from the information navigation, creative thinking, and technical writing skills it
develops. Those skills are helpful in almost any occupation, and students can reference this research
paper in future job interviews as a time in which they demonstrated those skills. To assist this process,
educators can label each of their teaching materials (e.g., PowerPoints, handouts, activity, etc.) with a
specific skill to develop. By noting what skills are developed, students have a defined goal to target, thus
intrinsically motivating their learning (Locke & Latham, 2002). The present work proposes five main
skills: problem-solving, communication, leadership, team, and personal. Each of these main skills
contains a list of several other skills for students to develop.
"Hear my voice": Using Technology to Complete a Collaborative Photovoice Project in an
Asynchronous Online Course
Ashley Biddle, University of Hawaii
In this teaching tutorial, I will walk through my final project assignment for my Psychology of
Gender course. This course is taught online asynchronously. Therefore, I utilized several pieces
of free educational technology to organize a multi-part collaborative final project, based on the
research method of Photovoice. In this project, students first brainstormed possible themes, then
voted on themes using Google Forms. Students then took several photographs related to the
19theme and posted on Padlet, where their peers commented and asked them questions about their
photographs. Then, each student chose one photograph to write a short narrative about. I worked
individually with students to edit their narratives, and then organized a group video collaboration
on Adobe Spark where students recorded their own voices reading their narratives and sharing
their photographs. The end result was a beautiful, thoughtful composition of how students
interacted with the topics from our semester.
Perusall for Community Building and Collaboration: Not “Just” a Social Annotation Tool
Alison Melley, George Mason University
Imagine a large section of an asynchronous, online course where students say at the end “I loved
working with other students and really grappling with questions, it didn’t feel like a huge class.”
Yes, you can facilitate this too! Perusall is a tool developed to create an engaging experience for
students who annotate reading materials in a virtual social environment, and then come to their
live classes more prepared. There are so many additional ways to utilize the power of this tool:
this 5-minute tutorial will demonstrate how to create a collaborative environment that can fully
replace the traditional discussion board in an asynchronous course. Set up is straightforward and
machine grading frees up instructor time, allowing for high-quality interactions with students.
After watching the tutorial, participants will be directed to “enroll” in a test course in Perusall so
that they can experience the platform themselves, interacting with other participants and the
presenter, sharing ideas and asking and answering questions. The presenter has utilized Perusall
in different ways in ten courses, and with over a thousand students. It has been especially
beneficial for students for whom English is an additional language and others who are reluctant
to participate in class discussions. Perusall is a tool for any instructor who wants to increase
community, inclusivity, and/or engagement in their courses.
Integration of Children’s Storybooks into Family Studies Courses
Jacki Fitzpatrick, Texas Tech University
The instructor includes storybooks in multiple courses, and will use the Contemporary Families
(CF) course as one example. CF focuses on diverse structures, such as adoptive, single parent,
divorced, gay/lesbian and traditional families. For each structure, she overviews key elements
(characteristics, processes). Next, the instructor forms student groups and each group selects one
family structure. She offers each group a small selection (3-4 books) about the specific structure.
Each group chooses one book which they read together (see Appendix). After reading is
completed, she explains how groups will conduct guided critical analysis for book relevance to
course concepts (e.g., interpersonal theories, types of post-divorce relationships). After
completing the analysis, each group describes the linkages which they identified. More
specifically, they explain (a) consistencies between books and concepts [Sweeney, 2016, Waters,
2017], (b) inconsistencies and (c) absences of relevant family members [Adams, Walker, &
O’Connell, 2011] dynamics [e.g., McNair, 2002]. The storybooks offer several teaching benefits
(Brown, 2010; Stone & Levett-Jones, 2014). For instance, students are able to read the entire
text and view the illustrations quickly. This often allows sufficient time for the whole critical
analysis activity (including group presentations) to be completed in one class period. Parallel to
20other group activities (Fitzpatrick, 2016), the books and relevant information can be shared
easily among groupmembers. In addition, groups are empowered to make their own choices (in
selecting the family structure/book and identifying conceptual linkages). This empowerment
aligns with active learning principles recommended for undergraduate education (Brown &
Kiriakidis, 2007).
Enhancing Online Graduate Education Through Interactive Asynchronous Instruction: Utilizing
Cyberpsychology To Teach CyberPsychology
Scott Debb, Norfolk State University
Online instruction at the graduate level in specialized psychology courses require novel methods of
facilitating critical thinking and discussion. Above and beyond the online classroom serving as a simple
repository for documentation and helpful weekly announcements that alert students of each week’s
deliverables, interaction with online students who are often geographically distanced and spread across
different time zones can become challenging for a variety of reasons ranging from individual motivation
to the more mundane but essential logistics. For example, course participants often have conflicting
workday schedules, both students and instructors often present with a wide range of technological
proficiencies, and despite various published recommendations from certification-type agencies about
best-practices, instructors tend to develop differences in their pedological approaches to synchronous
versus asynchronous instruction. Overcoming challenges such as these are possible with advanced
planning that occurs prior to the start of the semester and by regularly updating course materials based
on peer or student feedback and individual reflection. When designing activities and assignments,
instructors can also utilize research gleaned from the cyberpsychology literature, specifically the
exploration of creating social presence in cyberspace, engaging with others in online communities, and
fostering interactivity through immersion for the purpose of challenging the student in a manner that
does not overwhelm their cognitive load. Utilizing a recently developed graduate level introductory
course in cyberpsychology (PSY510, Psychology & Cyberspace), this session will highlight key course
design features and demonstrate course delivery strategies that were implemented during the Fall 2020
semester in order to facilitate a high level of student engagement and retention of essential information.
Zoom Rooms? Using Shared Online Workspaces to Create Engaging Breakout Room Experiences
Bonnie Perdue, Agnes Scott College
During the sudden transition to online courses during the 2020 academic year, I implemented a
“live” synchronous meeting session via the Zoom platform. To increase a sense of interactivity
in this meeting, I often used the breakout room function of Zoom which sorts the attendees into
smaller groups for a set period of time. There are many advantages to using breakout rooms,
including opportunities for smaller discussion groups, collaborative activities, etc, but I was
quickly made aware that the “on the spot” feeling associated with the breakout rooms made some
students feel uncomfortable. I adapted and began incorporating joint activities with a shared
digital workspace. By creating a shared google document or google slideshow, teams in the
breakout rooms had a concrete and clear joint space to share ideas and interact with materials.
For example, for a lesson on phylogenetic mapping in my animal behavior course, each zoom
room was given pictures of different species via a shared google slideshow and had to work
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